Eldon Grier
Eldon Grier was a Canadian artist and poet, born on April 13, 1917, in London, England. His family moved to Montreal, Quebec, shortly after his birth, where he received his education. From a young age, Grier pursued a career in art, studying under notable Canadian artists such as Goodridge Roberts and John Lyman. His artistic journey led him to Mexico, where he learned fresco painting and worked as an apprentice to renowned muralist Diego Rivera. After facing health challenges, including a prolonged battle with tuberculosis, Grier shifted his creative focus to poetry in the 1950s, producing several volumes that showcased his vivid imagery and influences from modernist styles. His poetry reflects his experiences and travels, with a strong emphasis on visual elements derived from his background as a painter. Over his lifetime, Grier published multiple collections, contributing to the Canadian literary landscape, although he often remained less recognized than his peers due to his aversion to literary trends. He passed away in 2001 at the age of eighty-four, leaving behind a body of work that intertwined his artistic and poetic endeavors.
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Eldon Grier
Writer
- Born: April 13, 1917
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: July 1, 2001
- Place of death: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Biography
Eldon Grier was born in London, England, on April 13, 1917. His father, Charles Brockwill Grier, was a captain in the Canadian army who was on assignment in England; his mother was Kathleen Phyllis Black Grier. The Griers returned to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the year after their son was born. When he completed his military service, Grier’s father became a stockbroker and sent his son to private schools in Montreal.
By the time Grier was seventeen, he knew he wanted to be an artist, and he left home to pursue that dream. Throughout the 1930’s and 1040’s, he struggled to eke out a living, but he also had the opportunity to study with two Canadian artists, Goodridge Roberts and John Lyman, in Montreal. He married Elizabeth Temple Jamieson in 1944, and a daughter, Sharon, was born in 1948. In 1945, Grier traveled to Mexico, where he studied fresco painting with Alfredo Zalce and was apprenticed to Diego Rivera as a plasterer.
When he returned to Montreal, he taught at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts under Arthur Lismer until his teaching was interrupted by illness. He contracted tuberculosis in 1950 and underwent treatment in a Canadian hospital for more than two years. In 1952, his marriage ended in divorce. Two years later, he married Sylvia Tait, a painter, with whom he had a son, Brock, and a daughter, Alexa. For several years, Grier and his family traveled, mainly to Mexico and to Europe, before settling in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In the 1950’s, Grier turned to writing poetry because he felt that painting was not a viable vehicle for expressing meaning. Between 1955 and 1958, Grier produced four volumes of poetry which were privately printed: A Morning from Scraps, Poems, The Ring of Ice, and Manzanilla, and Other Poems. Critics have noted Grier’s tendency to imitate the style or form of poets whom he admired. His earlier career as a painter may have influenced this practice, since he studied subjects and sought to capture their likenesses on canvas. Between 1963 and 2001, five additional volumes of poetry appeared, and the final one, Collected Poems: 1955-2000, was published in 2001, shortly before his death at the age of eighty-four.
Grier created his poetry from a wide range of sources, not the least of which were his travels and his days as a painter. With great attention to detail, he transposed color and design into words and meaning. Strong visual elements of imagism and surrealism and hints of modernist style appear in his poetry. Grier may have been less well recognized than some of his contemporaries because he deliberately avoided literary fashion. Nevertheless, he made significant contributions to the development of Canadian literature.